Can they DO that?!?! (Allied Interstate) HELP!

Hello there! My apologies if this is already somewhere in the forum. I'm new & I didn't see it.

I have made a mess out of my student loans. I have 4 of them totalling just under 48K. Sadly, I let two of them go default. (I found this out the hard way when I received a letter from the government this past April instead of my refund check. :p)

I contacted Direct Loans and began the consolidation proccess right away.

In the meantime, The Michigan Guaranty (sp?) Association had already referred my loan to Allied Interstate, a collection agency.

Allied Interstate calls me non-stop. "Once we have the loan you no longer have the right to work out an agreement with the issuing agency. We own the loan now and you will have to work with us."

I called Direct Loans today to check on the status of my consolidation. I was informed that all consolidations had been put on hold until July 1, 2009 so we, the lendees, would gain the benefit of a lower interest rate. They assured me, however, that contact had been made with the issuers of the loans and everything should be fine.

When I informed them of the situation with Allied INterstate they asked me if I had any wage garnishments happening yet. I told them no --- which is true. They told me not to worry about Allied Interstate because once Direct Loans has paid off the MGA, Allied Interstate won't be able to come after me anymore.

Is this true? Is there another way to handle this? I have put this off for a long time --- a year now --- and I'm afraid if I wait until July 1 Allied will have already begun wage garnishment.

What should I do?